I became quite adept at returning things when our kitchen had to be redone. Upon request, I bought the recessed lights ("can lights") but they weren't the right thing. Same with the outside light. The sink had to be returned (don't remember why). Under-cabinet lighting was bought with abandon, and most of it returned after being duct-taped to the bottom of my cabinets and tested multiple times. (Unfortunately, it was never installed....son said an outlet could be installed in the cabinet for it, rather than plug it into the wall outlet. Did he do that for me? -y-a-w-n---) But the real test of return policies was with the cabinets--the pulls and knobs. I wish I had kept track of just how many I actually bought from my two go-to stores--it must have been dozens and dozens. It was worth it, though--in the end, I am very happy with what I have. :) And Lowe's is very quick and easy regarding returns, a bit better than Menard's.

Rebecca - try oiling the timber and see if this brings it up. Rub it in with some steel wool and it can do wonders to bring life into the timber again and it is quite quick to do. The worry with painting is once that is done, you can't go back. I'm assuming you live in an area of similar homes so for selling purposes, I would check out all homes currently on the market in your immediate area, go to open house days, see how they have been renovated and gauge potential buyer's response to them, ask questions as to just what they are looking for in a home. Agents will help you with this too. I spent a year doing this before I sold my home and learned a lot from it. There are just as many people out there who want to put their own stamp on a home as there are those with no vision who just want everything pretty. Your front door, while it doesn't allow much light, could well be a significant heritage piece for the home so a solar tube or 2 could be the answer to bringing light into the space. Colourful artwork on the walls will then help detract from all the panelling too. Good luck with it all.

I love Marie's respect for the things we have, and her practice of thanking the things that don't actually bring us joy for what they have taught us (eg I don't suit that colour or if I don't like the feel of something, I don't end up wearing it). Her system does not generate a lot of rubbish; there are always people that will love the things that don't suit us and will be grateful to be able to buy them at a good price at a charity shop. I have found her philosophy hugely helpful especially for sentimental items which I don't love but felt I should hang on to. She has changed my life!

Great to hear that you have had a good experience in an unpopular neighborhood. Our first home was an ex-army house in the extremely unpopular South Auckland of New Zealand. All we could afford then... and we lived there happily for seven of eight years. We loved our home and our initial neighbors, many of whom we are still friends with. But as folk moved on and a rougher element moved in, break-ins began happening, clothes stolen off the clothesline, plants, pots, ornaments, swing sets and even a trampoline! It was no longer safe to leave a door unlocked let alone open. The crunch came when youths began to harass our children walking to and from school simply because they believed it was their right to take what they wanted (uniform and shoes, food) and trying to force them to buy drugs, We moved on. I guess it comes down to; is it just an unpopular demographic area? or is it a rough area, gang related residents, drugs on the street etc? The question does not stipulate why an area may be deemed unpopular. I said above to choose the better area and this is what we did second time around, we live in a preferred area of a demographically unpopular rural town in Otago, NZ and love it here. We have renovated and will be mortgage free in our retirement. However we would never again live in an area unpopular because of the crime rate.